OUR FATHER

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became our father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

                                                                                                                     1 Peter 1:3 (World English Bible)

 
Our opening text reveals God as our Father, and this statement holds a revelation about our position in his heart. There are different dimensions of God as revealed in scripture: he is revealed as Lord, King, Creator, Judge, Husband, and also as Father.

Each dimension of God conveys a particular kind of relationship he shares with mankind, and the present revelation of God to mankind is that of a Father. The fatherly relationship God share with humanity is that of intense love and consistent care. As scripture reveals, this dimension of God was communicated to us through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead; and this is because God is referred to as the God of the living (Mark 12:27), and all of mankind were dead in sin due to the sin-nature in them and he couldn’t be referred to as their father as he was to them before the fall. When Jesus rose from the dead–with a sinless (righteous) nature–it become possible for mankind to have God as their father again.

This new relationship holds a lot of privileges for humanity than other dimensions of God that man ever related with. Imagine how a good earthly father will relate with his children, imagine the things a good earthly father will do for his children; so much more will our Father do for us.

A father’s relationship with his children is filled with so much love, care, and good deeds. These, and much more defines our heavenly Fathers relationship with us.

The reason some people do not experience this new kind of relationship is that they still relate with God, in their mind, from every other dimension expect as a Father. This is what cuts them short of the fatherly experience of God. Do you know that certain people see God as one who is angry at them and would bring all manner of sicknesses and sufferings on them as a consequence of their wrong doings? This is far from the description of a good father. Though a good father chastises , but he often overlooks punishment/offense especially when we feel sorry and declare our willingness to repent. The father of the prodigal son in the scripture demonstrated this attitude of a father. The prodigal son expected his father to be angry with him and demote him because of his wrongdoing, but his father dealt an unconditional love toward him. Picture your relationship with our Father in the light of the best fatherly experience you could ever get from your father or give to your children.

Our failure to approach God from this new kind of relationship will affect the experience of love we get from him, and the enjoyment of the blessings he has stored in Christ Jesus for us.

MEDITATION

Take a note pad and write down all the possible attitude a good earthly father will demonstrate to his children; attribute these attitudes to our Father, bearing in mind that his ways far exceed our ways.

FURTHER READING

2 Corinthians 6:18; Luke 15:11-32; Matthew 7:9-11

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